The naivety of youth is great. When most of us were younger, we all had fantasies of doing things that, while we didn’t know it yet, were impossible. Apparently those thoughts extend into the older teenage years of some Jordan Brand All-Stars.

Some of the players got into a debate over whether or not they could beat Michael Jordan in 1-on-1. No, not 50-year-old M.J. We’re talking Jordan in his prime.

“He’s the best to ever do it,” said Findlay Prep point guard Nigel Williams-Goss. “I mean, c’mon now, it’s M.J. No one’s beating him one-on-one.”

Goss said he would lose, in a game to 11, 11-0. Kennedy Meeks (11-6), Wayne Selden (11-2) and Chris Walker (11-7) shared his thoughts. Turns out not all of them shared their opinion.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (11-10), Dakari Johnson (11-10), Andrew Harrison (11-7) and Matt Jones (11-5) all think they could beat Jordan in a game of 1-on-1.

They all were asked to provide an explanation as to why they would win or lose.

Harrison:

“I think he’d get a couple buckets here and there, but then I’d start to lock him down and give him buckets. Yeah, I think I’d get him.”

Yea, Andrew. You’d lock down a career 30.1 points per game scorer down.

Jones:

“Well, I’m feeling a little generous today, so I think he’d get his five points. This is how it would go: I’d get ball first, then I’d score the first few baskets because he’d definitely be sleeping on me. Then I’d go to my old-man game and take it to the hole every time. No matter how small the foul was I’d call ball every time until I made it. So it’s gonna be a long grind-it-out win. But I’d win.”

I’m going to assume he was joking. The man was too competitive to sleep on anyone. This is a dude, at 50, that just beat Charlotte Bobcats guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who is barely older than these guys, in 1-on-1. Oh and your “old-man game” isn’t getting past a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Have fun.

Then there’s Johnson, who provided the most reasonable answer to the question.

“I’m taking him to the post every time. He’d stop me a couple of times, but I’d just keep going back down there. I’d just contest his jump shots and pray that he’d miss. I think in the end, I’d get him though. I’m too big down there.”

Ok, this I can at least deal with. He’s a great post player. And a 6-6, Jordan would have an issue with him. But for starters, praying is the best you can do to hope a career 49.7-percent shooter misses. Then we could just show Dakari what happens when Jordan gets the ball against big dudes.

I understand the competitive fire that drives these guys. It’s all in fun and hey, they’ve worked hard enough to earn some bragging rights, being that all of these guys are major college signees and some might be future NBA draft picks. But someone needs to show these guys an hour-long highlight film of Jordan. Or just a video of Game 2 of the 1986 Eastern Conference First Round.

Come on. It isn’t just today’s youth. Every year the media tells kids they will be the next Jordan or James or they’re the best in the past 20 years blah blah blah. Hometown media is even worse and their high school coaches are the worst of all. They don’t want to be forgotten when the money starts rolling in. This year it’s Wiggins. Last year it was Davis. It happens every year. The Harrison twins have been given a big dose of ego from everyone they know too. But players will never do well without an ego. It doesn’t make them “ignorant” as much as mis-informed. They surely didn’t reach those conclusions on their own. I didn’t grow up thinking I could beat Wilt (what can I say – I’m old). They are just kids after all. They’ll learn the truth of how good they are and so will you. I’m sure no one thought Jordan would be as good as he is when he came out of high school. Well there would have been the usual suspects but no one with a brain predicts that one in a billion player is standing in front of them even if it turns out it is that player. They won’t know it until later on. So don’t be so harsh on these kids. They were all fed this stuff you can bet on it. You’d probably act the same way if you were told all those things.

The only real idiot here is the one who’d thinks he’d GIVE MJ 5 points. MJ could beat all of them right now, but they are to young to really be able to see what he was able to do so they don’t understand

The question that was posed to these kids was “Do you think you could beat Michael Jordan in a game of 1-1″. Apparently there was no mention of Jordan being in hid prime. Even though all of these kids would still lose by double digits, at least get your facts straight.

BTW, beating Kidd-Gilcrist and his pathetic excuse for an offensive game would be about as difficult for any playeras beating Greg Ostertag. In other words, not difficult at all.

That is what CBT says was the question that was asked. I know for a fact that either the “in his prime” part was left out of the question when it was posed to at least 1 of the players whose quotes appear in this story

David Harten - Apr 13, 2013 at 7:27 PM

Then that’s an issue with the author of the original story, not CBT. Appreciate the input. Thanks for reading.

Not surprised a Kentucky fan is trying to defend these kids. There is no excuse for their idiocy. Coach Cal is going to have his hands full trying to balance those giant egos. They are going to be good and a fun team to watch, but come march we’ll see their true colors and it won’t be pretty.

You think MJ doesn’t have an ego? It’s his ego that made him so great. If you sign a kid without an ego you should be fired. If you try to destroy players egos (like MJ did with MKG) then you should fire yourself (he’ the owner). But instead he’ll keep producing incredibly inferior teams and making them even worse by trying to prove that even as an old man he’s better than they are. Yeah that will surely give them the confidence they need. I’m beginning to think the “M” in MJ stands for “moron”.

Oh and what makes you think you can predict how well UK will do? They have the best recruiting class “ever” and you think they will bomb?????? They have 2 lottery picks coming back and you think they will “show their true colors”? Yeah they probably will. And they’ll hang them in Rupp with a #9 on those colors. Maybe they won’t win it all but they won’t be an NIT team again, you can bet on that. Last year they were very thin in the back court and you can’t win without good guards. They also had a short bench and no experience. None of those things will be true this coming year. I think you’ll be eating these words about this time next year.

You guys seem to think no one will ever be better than MJ. That ain’t true. IMO Wilt was better anyway. At any rate it’s just like Jordan to be out to embarrass his own players on his team. Yeah that’s how you develop players. Make them feel totally inferior. MKG averaged 10 ppg which isn’t that bad for a rookie. He only averaged 12 ppg for Kentucky. I’ve seen him make incredible moves to the basket. He’s very good on fast breaks. He isn’t so good in half court but I’m pretty sure he was drafted as a defensive player. That’s his main talent.

Jordan is a moron when it comes to putting together a team. He took over a team that made the playoffs and in short order set a record for the worst NBA record ever. Showing up MKG is just another bone head move on his part. If he wants to play let him put on a uniform. It’s insanely stupid to show up your own players. Without the kind of confidence these idiot kids have in this article you will never get better in the NBA. You have to believe you can or you surely won’t.